25+ apps to make your everyday life easier

Posted by: TED Staff September 19, 2014 at 11:51 am EDT

At our small, fast-moving nonprofit company, everyone does a couple of jobs and
productivity apps help us manage roles that shift between coding, writing/designing and
running a full-scale conference twice a year. We asked the TED staff what apps they cant
live without. And beyond the classicsInstagram, Google Maps, Spotify, Uber, Seamless
we found some great apps that might help you too. (A star denotes that the app is free, or at
least has a free version.)

For random life stuff

Dark Sky
A weather app with startling accuracy, its interface tells you things like: Light rain starting in
22 minutes. It also shows you beautiful weather maps that let you play local-news weather
expert. Its like a wizard, says our CTO, Gavin Hall. If this app were available in the
1600s, it would have been burned at the stake for witchcraft.

*Sunrise
Like your Google Calendar with key improvements, several staffers swear by this app. It
offers shortcuts for adding events, and also bakes things like weather reports and Facebook
birthday reminders into the mix of your daily calendar. Its awesome, says IT Manager
Francil Richards.

*KeyMe
Communications manager Samantha Kelly was excited to download this app, as she recently
got locked out of her apartment. She says, You scan your keys by taking a photo of them and
then you have digital copies. With the copy, you can get a key made for you at a KeyMe
kiosk (they currently have five in New York) or through the mail. Fingerprint scan is
required.

*Think Dirty
This app tells you exactly whats in the personal care product youre about to buy. You scan
the barcode, and it shares information about potentially harmful ingredients (and gives
alternatives, if you want them). Its useful for fact-checking label claims like all-natural and
organic. Kyle Shearer of our Events Workgroup says, It helps me make informed choices
on products that I am bringing home.

Yoga Studio
Yoga Studio reminds us of the Surprise Me feature on the TED app. You pick the kind of
yoga class you want (strength, flexibility, relaxation), your level (beginner, intermediate or
advanced) and the amount of time you have (20 minutes, 40 minutes or longer) and it creates
a class for you. Whenever I am traveling or too busy to exercise, I sneak in a lesson, says
Product Development Manager Jai Punjabi.

*Pocket
One of those apps on this list that you may already know about, it lets you save blog posts
and articles to read when youre offline. TEDx Digital Strategist Alex Rudloff says, Im able
to keep track of all the articles that get sent my way. In this post-Google Reader world, its
my primary way of keeping up on things. Community Support Manager Mireille Pilloud
adds, They send out a weekly email I like that shows the most-Pocketed articles and
suggests articles for me based on what I generally read. Another feature that gets big ups
from our staffthe fact that you can set the font size because it strips out the contents
original formatting.

*VSCO Cam
It doesnt have a name that rolls of the tongue, but this app is great for helping turn ho-hum
snapshots into arty photographs. Janet Lee of our Distribution team says, A year ago, I was
scanning my Instagram feed and noticed a lot of moodier photos. The beauty of this app is
that it doesnt matter how bad your framing is, you can just wash it out. Its maximum likes
on instagram, with low effort.

*Camera360
This app has more than 200 photo filters and 10 modes. But the real benefit, says Executive
Producer of TED Media June Cohen, is that images are for your eyes only. I like Camera360
for creating Instagram-like photos I dont want to share publicly, she says.

For staying organized

*Wunderlist
An app that lets you create shareable lists of favoritesbe they restaurants, sites in a city, or
movies. But its better known for its shareable to-do lists. It organizes my life, says Anjali
Mohan of our Client Services Workgroup. I use it at work and at home. My husband gets
reminders from the app when he needs to clean. Production Manager Kristel Ottis also
swears by this app. Theres simply no other way I could keep track of all the nitty-gritty
details that go into each production, she says.

MeMail
This app does one thing really wellyou can send yourself an email in two taps, for quick
reminders or ideas you dont want to forget. Its helped me get rid of all the fiddly bits of
paper in my pocket, says Product Development Associate Bedirhan Cinar.

*Trello
A slightly more visual rendering of your to-dos, this app allows you to create boards for
different projects and separate sharable lists within them. Each task goes on a separate card.
Ive tried tons of task apps, and Trello is by far my favorite, says Social Media Editor
Nadia Goodman. I love how easy it is to customize, color code, and rearrange things. Its
also really easy to make collaborative boards and store information like files, notes or
images within a task. My one complaint is that I wish it would ping me when a due date is
coming up!

*nvALT
A spin-off of Notational Velocity, this app is popular with techy types because it includes
MultiMarkdown functionality. Front-End Developer Joe Bartlett explains, Im naturally
scatterbrained and love nvALT for storing and indexing the sorts of details I used to jot down
haphazardly and forget: conference notes, obscure math and command line tricks, what
cartridge the printer takes, he says. It adds extra customization options.

*Todoist
Like both Wunderlist and Trello, this to-do list helper has both an app and a web client that
communicate. I found this in my never-ending search for the perfect task management app,
says Product Development Associate Will True. This isnt necessarily it, but it provides
simple task organizationby project, category, priority, due date. Its not fancy, which is
honestly why I like it. It also has great APIs so I can hook other things or build my own little
tools on the data it provides.

*Check
This app keeps track of all your bills and when they are due, and also monitors your bank and
credit card accounts. Most importantly, it tells you when theres a mismatch between the two
i.e. when youre about to get charged an overdraft fee so you can fix the problem. Its
way better than Mint, says IT Manager Francil Richards. It means Im never late on
payments.

*Evernote
Evernote is an organizational tool that you can use as a storing place for short notes, or as a
place to collect all your thoughtslinks, photos, notes, checklistsfor larger projects.
Evernote is awesome because its versatile, says Junior Designer Lilian Chen. You can use
it for storing receipts and outlining travel plans and meeting notes.

For getting around

CityMaps2Go Pro
This app downloads offline, zoomable, searchable maps of major cities, so that even if you
are roaming around Tokyo and cant read any of the signs, you can still find your way around.
Its good for people like me who travel internationally, but dont like to get data plans, says
Thu-Huong Ha, of our editorial team.

*Word Lens
Another great app for travelers, Word Lens visually translates printed text into your language
in real time. When you snap a photo of a sign or document, it shows the image to you in
English. Its crazy, says Kyle Shearer of our Events Workgroup. The translations are not
always 100%, but its good enough to get by on. Hello, food menus.

*Moves
Moves tracks every step you take, which sounds creepy, but is actually useful. It quantifies
how many miles youve walked, cycled and run, says Patrick DArcy, of the TED Fellows
team. Its not about the calories burned for me, but the ability visualize where Ive gone on a
map. A friend actually introduced me to the app when he came back from Mexico City and he
was able to show me the exact routes he took.

*Waze
An app to help you get stuck in traffic as infrequently as possible. Drivers share real-time
traffic delaysaccidents, traffic jams, and the likeso that you can avoid them. The head of
our Media Team, June Cohen, once mentioned this app a staff meeting, and lots of us are
using it now.

*Roadify
This app gives you real-time data on transit info in 50 cities in the US and Canada. I know
when the next bus or train is coming and, if its not there, the reason for the delay, says Anna
Verghese, Deputy Director of the TED Prize. Psychologically, I like knowing when
I reach the subway station that the train is four minutes away, so that I dont have to hurl
myself down the subway stairs.

Exit Strategy
This app is for New Yorkers only. (Sorry.) It helps you plan your subway route, down to
where to stand on the platform, and which exit to use to get to your destination in the quickest
amount of time. It speaks to my need for efficiency, says producer Roxanne Lash.
Embark
Other staffers also recommend Embark, which is a route-planning app akin to Hop Stop that
integrates information about delays. Its available in 10 cities and has a big bonus: it works
underground, without connection.

*Couch to 5k
This app trains you to run a 5k. It gives you audio alerts when to start running/walking,
says Accountant Erline Maruhom. The idea is that you should be able to run a 5k in nine
weeks. Well see Im hopeful.

For computer and email ease

*Boomerang
This is app for Gmail that is majorly handy. It lets you set a notification to pop up if you
havent gotten a reply on an email within a specified amount of time. It also lets you
boomerang messages back to the top of your inbox, closer to when you actually need to pay
attention. But the feature our staff members love: you can schedule emails to send later. I
tend to write emails in bulk at night or on the weekendbut dont want to bug anyone then,
says writer Kate Torgovnick May. Its nice to be able to schedule an email for a more
appropriate time and hit send.

*Mailbox
This app helps you archive and trash emailor put off emails you dont have to respond to
immediately until a later datewith a left or right swipe. It also shows whole conversations
with a cool interface that looks a lot like a chat. On the train into work, I can quickly sift
through all the emails and start my day with a clearer head, says Post Production Manager
Gwen Schroeder.

*Authy
This app disconnects 2-step authentication from text messaging, and does it in a way thats a
little more secure, should your phone fall into the wrong hands. This is especially handy for
when Im in areas with no reception or am international and dont have a texting plan, says
Product Development Associate Bedirhan Cinar. Google offers an identical app, but I like
Authy better because you can password protect it so if someone has your phone, they cant
easily access your 2 step codes.

*Quicksilver
It lets you search, find and open applications and files on your Mac quickly using shortcut
keys, says TEDx Branding Coordinator Boian Filev. It has really sped up finding and
opening files that might be buried deep in folders.

*Flux
This app rocks for anyone who has eyes that are sensitive to the bright light of a computer
screen. It makes your computer or iOS device display adjust to the time of the day, and get
warmer and dimmer at night. It keeps me from getting a headache in the evening, says
writer Kate Torgovnick May. I also appreciate it at TED Conferences, when we can
sometimes end up being in a dark theater all day. Its nice to get some demarcation of what
time it is outside.

But enough about us. Whats the app that YOU find most helpful on a day-to-day basis?
Share in the comments!